Cloth-cutter.



No; 699,399. Patented May 6, |902.

n. E. LEvE. GLUTH CUTTER.

` Application led Nev. 11, 1901.)

(No Model) Wme''e TN: Ncmus PETERS co. PnoToALlmo., mwmarou. ny c.

@Wa d W VM 3 5 and oil-discharge passages.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT E. LEVE, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

CLOTH-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 699,399, dated May 6, 1902.

Appnmion tied November 11, 1901. serai No. 81.787. (No model.)

T all whom, t may concer-71,:

Be it known that I, ROBERT E. LEvE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, in the city and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Cloth-Cutter, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to cloth cutters in which a reciprocating knife is driven at a high 1o speed by suitable powerin the present instance by electricity-with the object in view of providing simple means for reciprocating the knife, means for keeping the parts automatically lubricated, means for readily re- I5 moving and inserting a knife, and means for preventing the knife from jamming while holding it truly in position during its reciprocatory movement.

A practical embodiment of my invention is 2o represented in the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a view of the cutter in side elevation, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a front view, partly in section, to more clearly disclose the operating parts, the section being taken in the line A A of Fig. l. Fig. 3 yis a horizontal section in the plane of the line B B of Fig. l, a portion only of the base being represented. Fig. l is a partial transverse 3o section, taken through the base, knife-guides,

and knife, in the plane of the line C O, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a partial longitudinal vertical section through the driving cam and gears for the purpose of showing the oil-reservoir Fig. 6 is a transverse section, partly in elevation, through the driving cam or eccentric and its connecting-rod or pitman, showingthe discharge passages or ducts for supplying the oil from the 4o interior of the cam tothe eccentric-strap and parts below it. Fig. 7 is an enlarged View in detail of the joint between the connectingrod and knife, showing the same in elevation, Fig. 8 s a transverse section through the same in the plane of the line D D of Fig. 7,

and Fig. 9 is aview in detail of the upper` end of the knife.

The base of the cutter is denoted by a. It is made as thin as is consistent with the nec- 5o essary strength, with its ends beveled in order to permit it to pass readily underneath a pile of cloth to be cut and conveniently mounted upon casters a for the purpose of causing it to move with as little friction as may be over the surface of the table or platform on which the goods to be cutare placed.

The base a is surmounted by a thin standard b, fixed at its lower end to the base and forming a support for the operating parts. The standard b is bifnrcated at its front edge, forming a narrow slot b', in which the knife c of the cutter is arranged to vertically reciprocate, with its cutting edge projecting in front of the walls of the slot b. This slot 1) is made to receive the knife-blade with a sliding fit in order to prevent the knife from buckling and to hold it against any tendency to Waver when forced ,to its work. In order to prevent it from becoming bound during its operation by means of fibers or foreign matter which may force their way between its opposite sides and the interior walls of the slot b', I provide the said walls of the slot with a series of perforations d, having their lower walls beveled, as shown at d', (see Fig. 4,) the said lower walls having a slant upwardly from the outer face of the guide to the inner Yface of the guide in proximity to the knifeblade. When any foreign matter creeps into the space between the knife and the inner walls of the slot, the downward movement of the knife will force them outwardly through the openings d, the sharp edge formed by the slanting lower wall of the opening CZ tending to scrape the foreign matter from the side of the blade and permit it to fall outside of the guide, and thereby keep the knife free from binding.

The standard Z) is surmounted by a casing, the rear section e of which contains the motor, in the present instance the electric motor, and the front section c' of which contains the gear and driving mechanism for reciprocating the knife. The electric motor may be of any well-known or approved form and is not specifically shown. Its rotary shaft f projects into the interior of the section c of the casing and is there provided with a driving-pinion g, which intermeshes with a gear wheel h, mounted on a short. axle i, set in the rear wall of the hollow casing e and also serving as a support for the driving cam or eccentric j, the latter being fixed to rotate with the gear-wheel 7i on the shaft t'. The eccentric IOO j is provided with a strap la, connected with a pitman or connecting-rod Z, the latter having a vertically-sliding movement in a guideblock m, forming the bottom of the section c of the casing aud having a connection with the knife c below the said guide-block. A presser foot or gage has a pair of feet fn u', secured in position to straddle the cutting edge of the knife c, the legs o 0', which support the said feet, merging into a rod p, extending upwardly along the front of the casing e' and having a sliding movement in suitable bearings, one of which is provided with a clamp-screw q for holding the rod p, and hence the presser-feet, at the desired height.

The front e2 of the casing e is made removable for the purpose of gaining access to the operating parts within it.

Particular attention is called to the structure of the cam or eccentricj, which is utilized as an oil-reservoir for supplying oil to the movable parts in its vicinity, as follows: The eccentric is made hollow, as shown in Fig. (i, and is opened and closed by removing and adjusting its front plate An oil-duct 'r leads from the oil-reservoir within the eccentric, along the hub of the eccentric into the interior of the gear-wheel h, and thence to the periphery of the said wheel, as shown in Fig. 5, thereby permitting oil to pass from the reservoir to the teeth of the gear-wheel h, and thence onto the teeth of the pinion g, keeping this gear properly lubricated. Other ducts r' r2 (see Fig. 6) lead from the reservoir within the eccentric through the rim of the eccentric to its periphery, where they serve to lubricate the joint between the eccentricstrap and the eccentric, and this supply is regulated so that there shall be an overiiow onto the joint s between the eccentric-strap and connecting-rod or pitman, along down which the oil will flow to lubricate the walls of the opening fm in the block m, through which the pitman slides. This arrangement has proven in practice of material importance, as it automatically keeps the parts at all times lubricated, so that no delay is caused by the heating of the parts and their undue wear is avoided. This becomes of greater importance in a machine of this character where the knife is run at a very high speed and where overheating produces rapid Wear of the parts and liability of breakage.

As it is necessary to frequently change the knife in order to keep a sharp knife in place, I have provided a simple and effective arrangement for adjusting and removing the knife and at the same time forholding it firmly to the connecting-rod or pitman. The arrangement is shown in detail in Figs. '7, 8, and 9, and is as follows: The lower end of the pitman is cut away for half its depth, more or less, as shown at t, Fig. S, and a movable clamping-block t is arranged to fit the said cut-away portion and form a holding jaw or piece opposite the lower end of the pitman.

The piece t' is drawn toward and away from the lower end of the pitman by means of a screw t2, which is swiveled in the piece t by means of a cross-pin t3, extending through the block and engaging' an annular recess t4 in proximity to the head of the screw, and the said screw registers with a screw-thread t5 in the lower end of the pitman. The block t' is guided toward and away from the lower end of the pitman by means of a pair of dowel or guide pins u u', fixed in the block t and adapted to pass through holes c c2 near the upper end ofthe knife when the latter is in its position for being clamped, and thence into holes t in the lower end of the pitman. The upper end of the knife is further provided with an open slot c3 for receiving the screw t2 when the knife is forced upwardlyinto its position to be locked. The length of the screw 152 is such that when it is unscrewed far enough to withdraw the pins u ul from the knife-blade it will still be engaged with the pitman and will hold the block t' in position thereon, so that there will be no free parts to be mislaid. To remove the blade requires simply unscrewing the screwt'2 until the pins uit set the blade free, when it may be slipped downwardly out of position, and a new blade may be adjusted by sliding it upwardly, with its slot c3 embracing the screw t2 until the bottom of the slot c3 limits its movement, at which time the holes c and c2 will register with the pins u u', and the blade may then be locked by turning the screw in the direction to draw the piece t toward the lower end of the pitman, clamping the blade between the two. The blade is thus held not only against displacementlaterally by the piece t and the lower end of the pitman, but it is also held rmly against an edgewise movement by means of the three bearing-points-viz., the pins u u and the screw.

The cutter is manipulated as a whole by means of a handle c, fixed to the rear casing, as at w, and provided with a movable plunger m for the purpose of making and breaking circuit to start and stop the motor for operating the cutter.

The particular means for making and breaking circuit within the handle /U forms the subject-matter of a separate application filed of even date herewith; but for the purposes of my present invention the circuit closer and breaker within the handle may be of any wellknown or approved form.

It is obvious that changes might be resorted to in the form, construction, and arrangement of the several parts Without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Hence I do not wish to limit myself strictly to the structure herein shown and described; but,

l. A cloth cutter comprising a suitable base, a standarduprising from the base, a superstructure supported on the standard and including a motor for driving the knife, a knife, a guide for holding the knife against IOO IIO

lateral vibration during its reciprocating movement and openings through the walls of the guide, the bottoms of said openings having an upward and inward inclination toward the opposite sides of the knife for relieving the knife from clogging material, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the knife having its upper end perforated, of a pitman or connecting-rod provided with dowel pins arranged to enter the perforations in the knife and a removable clamping-piece under the control of a screw for locking the knife to the pitman, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination With a knife having its upper end perforated and notched, of a pitman provided with pins arranged to enter the perforations in the upper end of the said knife, a screw adapted to enter the notch inv said knife and a movable clamping-piece under the control of the screw for locking the parts in assembled adjustment, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a knife havingits upper end perforated and notched, of a pitman provided with pins arranged to enter the perforations in the knife, a movable clamping-piece and a screw swiveled in said movable clamping-piece in position to engage the notch in the knife for holding the parts in assembled adjustment, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a knife having its upper end perforated and notched, of a pitman having its lower end perforated, a movable clamping-piece provided with pins arranged to move together with the piece into and out of engagement with the perforations in the knife and a clamping-screw swiveled to said movable clamping-piece and engaged with the pitman for locking and releasing the parts, substantially as set forth.

6. A cloth cutter comprising a suitable base, a standard uprising therefrom,'a casing supported on said standard, said casing being divided into compartments, one of said compartments serving to house an electric motor and another of said compartments containing therein an eccentric, a gear-wheel xed to rotate with the eccentric, a pinion on the motor-shaft in engagement with said gear-wheel, an eccentric-strap engaged with the eccentric and a pitman connected with Said strap and extending through the bottom of the easing, the latter forming a guide for` the pitman, a knife attached to the lower end of the pitman and having a reciprocating movement along said uprising standard anda handle, connected with the casing for manipulating the cutter, substantially as set forth In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name,in presence of two Witnesses, this 1st day of November, 1901.

ROBERT E. LEVE.

VitneSSeS:

FREDK. HAYNES, HENRY THIEME. 

